UNIT-20
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Taking my Son to College, Where Technology has Replaced
Serendipity
Cristina Baker
Kline
Glossary:
Serendipity - destiny/fate/fortune/luck
Freshmen – first year students at university
Twin sheet – double bed sheet/covering
Clip-on light - lights models
for bed come with a
thick clip
Venture out - dared to do something risky
Social currency - influence
on social networks, online and offline communities, and the degree by which
your business is shared by others
Bragged about – said in boastful manner
Alpha Romeo – Italian luxury and amazing car
Camaro - mid-size American automobile
manufactured by Chevrolet
Gstaad - a holiday destination for royalty
and celebrities in Swiss Alp
Vanderbilts - one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in the
United States
Vanderbilt Hall - the
residence hall for Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental
Medicine
Sophistication –complexity
Disposal - dumping
Basement – underground room
Dorm - large building at a college or
university where students live
Suitemate - A person with whom one shares a suite in a college or
university residence hall
Prom -
a formal party held for older students at the end of the school year, at which
there is dancing
Musing – meditative
Xbox –
video game created and owned by Microsoft
Vetting – inspecting
Scrutinizing – examining
Indecipherable – impossible to read
Exercises:
Ways with words:
A. Match the words with their correct definitions.
a) Freshman – a first year student at a university,
college, or high school
b) Naïve – having a lack of experience or
knowledge
c) Obliviously – without conscious awareness
d) Brag –
say something in a boastful manner
e) Disposal – action of throwing away something
f) Dorm – dormitory, student residence
hall or building
g) Suitemate – someone who shares your
bathroom/living room/kitchen
h) Incalculable – not able to be calculated or estimated
B. Replace the bold words in (a-h) selecting synonyms from the
box.
Delight, incredible, potential, unanticipated, fragmented,
scrutinizing, navigate, indecipherable
a) Her story is unbelievable in the literal sense of
the word. Incredible
b) We often read
the novel of the reputed writers in
the world. Potential
c) The Facebook
users are scattered but connected to
each other through the Internet. Fragmented
d) Sometimes unexpected events happen in our life.
Unanticipated
e) He paused, examining the faces of Anjana and Manju
with his glittering eyes. Scrutinizing
f) I am sorry to
say our handwriting is unreadable. Indecipherable
g) He is matured.
He can direct his own journey to
make his career better. Navigate
h) Gita’s heart
swelled with pleasure, translating
her confidence into power. Delight
C. Complete the sentences by choosing the correct word given in
the brackets.
a) Does
television affect children? (affect(v)/effect(n))
b) Does
television have an effect on children? (affect/effect)
c) Could you lend
me your book, please? (borrow/lend)
d) Can I borrow
your pen? ( borrow/lend)
e) Prices seem to
rise every year. (raise/rise)
f) You can raise
your hand if you want to ask a question. (raise/rise)
g) What did he say
to you? (say/tell)
h) I can’t speak
Hindi. (speak/talk)
i) I will talk
to you on the phone. (speak/talk)
j) I think that’s
a very sensible idea/ (sensible/sensitive)
k) My teeth and
very sensitive to cold. (sensible/sensitive)
l) Our principal
is a popular person. (principal/principle)
m) I can’t
understand the principle of gravity. (principal/principle)
n) All friends, except
Nabina, came to the party. (accept/except)
o) Will you accept
my request? (accept/except)
p) They were
making too much noise. (Noise/sound)
q) All she could
hear was the sound of the waves. (noise/sound)
r) Did you give
him any advice for his career? (advice/advise)
s) My parents advised
me to be a teacher. (advice/advise)
Comprehension:
Answer these questions.
a) Why did the author feel that she was lucky to be so naïve of
her freshman year at college?
The author felt
that she was lucky to be so naïve of her freshman year at college because the
very ignorance navigated her to the path of wealth and status. The lack of
knowledge and experience encouraged her to get the delight of discovering the
world.
b) Why did she say that she went to college in the Stone Age?
She said that she
went to college in the Stone Age, because she compares her college year with her
son’s college year she found a vast difference. During her time, there was not
such a great developments in terms of science and technology as they are now. Modern
students are familiar with science and technology; they have different modern
devices and advanced application on mobile phone.
c) What kinds of technological tools can Hayden use at his college
life unlike at his mother’s time?
Hayden uses
modern technologies in almost everything he does, large and small. He uses
mobile phone with Yale specific apps, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.
d) How has the internet and social sites affected the lifestyle of
the youths?
Internet has made
the youths dependent in almost everything either large or small. It has made
the life of youths easier forgetting to experience struggle and hard labor.
Without any efforts they can prepare project works depending on search engine
hampering the expansion of the horizon of thinking and creativity. Social sites
have given them opportunities to be connected to different people but they are
fragmented because they know each other virtually. They don’t meet then in
real. Because of internet and social
sites the youths have miss the actual delight of discovering of a real world.
e) What things about college life will Hayden really miss unlike
his mother?
Hayden will miss
the creative thinking ability and the delight of discovering a real world
unlike his mother.
f) The writer says, “I worry that students today are more
connected and more fragmented.” Isn’t this paradoxical? How?
The line “I worry
that students today are more connected and more fragmented.” is paradoxical.
The nature of a paradoxical sentence is, it is illogical in surface level but
in deep level, there lies a philosophical meaning. There is no fragmentation in connection but
the above line means youths are connected to each other virtually through
social sites, but in real world there are far to each other. They don’t have
person to person relation so they are fragmented. There is no exposure to each
other to gain life’s memorable moments.
Critical Thinking:
a) Do you think that advancements of technology can hinder the
exposure students receive in school, and block them from gaining some of life’s
memorable moments? Give reasons in support of your answer.
In today’s world
internet is one of the most influencing advancements f technology. It has
brought a revolution is the world of communication. It has become an integral
part of human life. Thinking of a life without internet is even impossible to
think. However it has some drawbacks. One of them is, it hinders the exposure
students receive in school and deprives them of getting life’s memorable
moments. I absolutely agree with this statement because firstly it stops them
to learn what hardship and struggle is, secondly it impairs them to employ
their creative faculty of mind in study and doing things, and thirdly it stops
them to navigate the real world as well as the delight in it.
A life without
struggle and hardship is not a complete life. Student life is the time to have
an experience of struggle. Students have to work hard to pass the grade and
they have to do different project works to expand the horizon of their
knowledge based in real life but they complete the project works based on
internet. They miss the memorable moments of preparing project papers by
studying a variety of reference books. They can’t be creative, because they
just copy and paste information from the internet. There is no satisfaction
because their creative potential is blocked. They are connected to each other
through social sites. They share their feelings and experience through texts
and images. There are no memorable moments of friendship like in face to face
conversation.
b. Kline’s essay focuses on the contrast between her son’s
freshmen college experience and her own, but she also establishes what they
have in common. Explain.
The essay
entitled “Taking my son to College, Where Technology has Replaced Serendipity”
written by Christina Baker Kline is about the contrast between her college
experience and her son’s experience. But the essay also includes the common
things between her and her son. She talks about the experience of freshman
college year in the same university.
c. Has internet aided to broadening or narrowing the critical
thinking capacity of youths or readers? How?
The data shows
that there is 4.54 billion people use internet in the world and it is not
surprising that 10.78 million people use internet in Nepal. This means a large
number of people depending on internet technology blurring their thinking
capacity. Most of people are fascinated to it assuming that it could make their
lives easier. From everyday work to very tough area such as medical,
engineering use internet. Some people argue that it is broadening creative and
critical thinking ability of youths and readers. It is obvious that there are
some advantages of internet but let’s see the number of people depending on
internet to solve any simple problem. In my view, it is narrowing the critical
thinking capacity of youths or readers. It is limiting creative skills of
youths because they are totally dependent on internet for every problem.
Instead of reading books and thinking creatively, as soon as they find some
problem they try to find out solutions on internet. For example when a teacher gives home
assignments to his/her students, they pull out their phone or hop on their
computer and try to find out solution through Google search and copy possible
answers.
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